The name of our organization is "Shogai Gogaku Gakushu Kenkyubukai" in Japanese and "The Lifelong Language Learning Special Interest Group" in English. Its abbreviation is LLL SIG. In early October of 2005 Tadashi Ishida, the previous and longest serving coordinator of the LLL SIG, and Curtis Kelly sat together in a coffee shop at the Grandship in Shizuoka City--where the JALT International Conference was being held that year--and discussed the creation of a JALT SIG for teaching older learners. Tadashi Ishida actually made it become a reality. The Lifelong Language Learning SIG was born later that year. The term lifelong learning, although meaning learning throughout life, was adopted by the SIG as a term referring to post-compulsory education. In Japan, a growing number of young, middle-aged, and older adults are eager to study a second language as an element of their lifelong learning path. This trend reflects the understanding that the learning of other languages helps lead to an enriched quality of life as students learn more about the world around them. As Japan's population ages an emphasis on lifelong learning has the potential to create a more enlightened and cosmopolitan citizenry. The Lifelong Language Learning Special Interest Group (LLL SIG) invites those teaching languages to young, middle-aged, and older adults to share information through our website and newsletter, at the annual PanSIG conference, at our mini-conferences (sometimes held in collaboration with other SIGs), and at the JALT (Japan Association of Language Teaching) National Conference.
Access our informative website here: https://living4now.org/ .
